Estillado’s family previously was awarded $3 million in a wrongful death lawsuit, reported Alabama-based media outlet 1819 News.

Editor in chief of PlasticsToday since 2015, Norbert Sparrow has more than 30 years of editorial experience in business-to-business media. He studied journalism at the Centre Universitaire d'Etudes du Journalisme in Strasbourg, France, where he earned a master's degree.

Injection moulding machine manufacturer Netstal is providing the SKZ Plastics Center in Horb am Neckar with an Elion 1200-510 injection moulding machine. The official machine handover took place on June 25, 2024. The Elion 1200-510 with a clamping force of 1,200 kN will be used in future for the extensive training activities in injection moulding at the Horb am Neckar site.

“Despite knowing of numerous prior worker injuries from using that machine without the safety guard engaged, ABC Polymer assigned the victim to cut tangles out of plastic sheeting from among the machine’s unguarded spinning rollers with a hand tool. The worker became entangled in the spinning rollers and was killed,” writes the DOJ.

It is alleged that ABC Polymer had a standard practice of operating the machine with the guard in the “up” or unprotected position when the rollers were moving. This is a violation of OSHA standards that require moving machinery to be guarded while the machine is energized. The automatic mechanism that would have stopped the line and rollers from spinning when the guard was in the up position was not used, according to the DOJ, allowing operators to reach between or near the roller drums to cut tangles in the plastic sheet without stopping the line.

The machine will enhance the existing range of training courses in Horb - including "Machine Operator" or "Certified Setter", as well as courses on injection moulding defects or sampling of injection moulds. The course program includes course options for career changers and specialists. The injection moulding unit from the Elion series is characterized by low noise emissions and optimum energy efficiency. With injection compression moulding (ICM), new fields of application can also be opened up.

ABC Polymer manufactures flat plastic sheets using extrusion assembly lines that pull the plastic sheeting through multiple clusters of large spinning rollers, writes the DOJ in the Aug. 15 release announcing the charges. The machine at issue was manufactured with a metal barrier designed to protect operators from the pinch points of the moving rollers, as well as an “interlock” mechanism that stops the rollers from spinning if the guard is lifted, writes the DOJ.

If convicted, the defendant faces a fine of up to $500,000, or twice the financial gain to the defendant or twice the financial loss to another, whichever is greater. The defendant is also liable for restitution to the victim.

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) and US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama earlier this week announced criminal charges against ABC Polymer Industries LLC for the death of a worker at its Helena, AL, plant. The employee, Catalina Estillado, was pulled through the spinning rollers of plastic sheet machinery on Aug. 16, 2017, and died as a result. The DOJ cites “willful violations of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards that led to a worker’s death” in its filing.

"We are proud to provide the SKZ with a machine and thus support training and further education in the plastics industry here in Germany. It is crucial that skilled workers have access to advanced machines to develop their skills in plastics processing," explained Uwe Telinde, managing director of Netstal Deutschland GmbH, at the handover of the machine.

OSHA reports on its website that the company was cited for 19 violations and initially fined $195,144. ABC Polymer ended up paying $155,338 and the case was closed on Aug. 30, 2019.

"We are very pleased about our first injection moulding machine from Netstal at SKZ. Especially in times of a shortage of skilled workers, it is important to keep the machinery up to date in order to work with the latest technology. We would like to thank Netstal for their support and are pleased to be able to offer our participants courses at a very high technical level," said Jürgen Kern, site manager of the SKZ in Horb am Neckar.

(From left) Uwe Telinde (managing director NETSTAL Deutschland GmbH), Thomas Fischer (senior trainer Injection Moulding SKZ Horb am Neckar), Peter Schmid (head of Application & Training NETSTAL Maschinen AG), André Liebscher (area sales manager South, NETSTAL Deutschland GmbH) and Jürgen Kern (site manager SKZ Horb am Neckar) at the handover of the new injection moulding machine in Horb am Neckar on June 25, 2024.

It's a Class B misdemeanor under federal law to willfully fail to follow an OSHA safety standard where the failure causes the death of an employee.